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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Portobella Mushroom BurgerI know it's a very simple sandwich, but I've never made a portobella "burger" before. I've made plenty a burger WITH bella's but not just using the bella AS the burger.After looking at a butt load (that's a metric butt load, btw) of recipes, the common basics were:

1. Marinade the mushrooms in any vinaigrette for 30 minutes. It could be as simple as store bought Italian dressing or one you whisk up yourself. I made a simple basil vinaigrette.

2. Grill over a 450-500f fire for 4 minutes a side. Start with the gills down so during the second four minutes, you can fill the mushroom with your cheeses. I used crumbled Boursin cheese and baby spinach leaves.

3. Serve on a roll with a lot of texture, like ciabatta rolls with a seasoned mayonnaise.I went with this mayo from the December issue of Southern Living and their "Fast and Festive Sandwich Spreads" article. Alexis and I both loved it. It brought a lot of flavor to the plate. We will definitely make this again.

Cook the first 3 ingredients over medium high heat until reduced to about 1 tablespoon of liquid (about 5 minutes). Allow to cool. Stir remaining ingredients into mixture. Serve with burgers, steak sandwiches, etc.

I found letting it sit in the fridge for an hour let the flavors blend.

Rouxbe Online Cooking SchoolThe Foodie Blogroll has a contest this month for the Rouxbe Cooking School. Any Foodie Blogroll member that signs up for the Rouxbe free 7 day premium member trial is entered in to weekly drawings for a free lifetime membership. I was so excited to find out that I have won!!!!

During my free trial, I spent a few hours at Rouxbe and even took a few lessons. Some of it, I knew, some of it I thought I knew, and I learned something I didn't know in each 8 to 15 minute lesson. I was very impressed with the quality of the content. I am thrilled to find out my free trial is now a free membership!

The things I liked are:

Professional grade video lessons (Not just some chef with a camcorder)

Curriculum based lessons complete with session objectives, the videos, practice recipes that use the techniques taught, discussion, and a quiz.

Recipe video collection

Course content

So will it prepare you to become an Executive Chef at a restaurant? Heck no. That's not their goal. There intent is to:

To help you become a better and more confident cook by teaching you basic to advanced cooking skills and techniques – the same things that chefs learn in a professional cooking school – so you can be free from being a slave to just recipes.

If you are like me, a pretty decent home cook that wants to learn to be better than you are, I recommend checking out Rouxbe. (Basic memberships are free and give you a good idea of what they are about.)

If you are a food blogger wanting more foodie traffic and info about more giveaways like this, sign up at the Foodie Blogroll.

Wow, I'm impressed. Are you sure you didn't sneak some meat under that bun;D I'm laughing because my husband always has to have meat on his plate. The portabella burger looks great and I love the idea of adding cheese. I like it when you post the research you've done on a recipe, that's pretty cool!

A good grilled portabella sandwich is a wonderful and flavorful alternative to a grilled burger. I have never made it myself (You may have just inspired me) but, I have tasted a few really good ones. Yours looks divine.